A common misconception is that athletes don’t need good grades. Some think that  because they are athletes, they can just get a scholarship and they’ll be fine. But that’s not necessarily true.

Athletes have a hard life. They have school during the day and practice at night.

With all of those things, it’s hard to find time to do homework. But they still need to keep up with their homework and get good grades. According to RealVail, to be considered for a scholarship you need to have at least a 2.0 GPA and a good SAT score. If you have a higher GPA, you’ll have a lower requirement for your SAT’s.

For most sports teams, your grade matters for playing as well. For example, if you are failing too many classes, you can’t play until your grades improve. For wrestling, if your grades are too low, there is constant communication with family and teachers to make sure everyone is aware of what’s going on. Sometimes, poor classroom performance can also lead to sitting out of tournaments, meets, and games.

There are always times to try and do homework, as hard as it might be depending on how many sports you have going on at once. Senior Jarron Hubner finds time to do his homework after practice. Wrestling coach Casey Horn says that to help with student athletes that need help with homework they often hold study halls, do constant grade check ins, and talk to them one-on-one if necessary.

Many athletes, or “jocks,” fight the stereotype that they aren’t good at school because they are athletes. You hear the stereotype get thrown around every often but that isn’t really true. According to atyourownrisk.org, there are a lot of benefits to being a student athlete and working out. It is shown that people who are more physically active are 15% more likely to attend college. It also says that student athletes have 40% higher test scores and end up getting a higher GPA because they’re active and are a part of a team sport.

In the end, homework is important for student athletes for many reasons. Instead of thinking “jocks” aren’t smart maybe you should change your point of view.